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RURAL TRANSPORT EXPERIMENTS: HACKFORTH AND DISTRICT CAR SHARING SERVICE

The Hackforth and district car sharing service was set up in North Yorkshire in October 1978 as part of the government's programme of rural transport experiments (rutex). Lifts were permitted anywhere within the experimental area (which consisted of three neighbouring parishes) and to a limited number of destinations outside it, which were chosen so that the service did not compete with bus services in the district. Drivers were paid at two different mileage rates, one for journeys they would have made anyway and a higher rate for special journeys. An average of 3 one-way trips were made each week of which over a third were to provide connection with a bus service. The demand was small compared with the existing level of lifts obtained in non-household cars of about 340 trips per week. The cost of running the service in the first nine months of operation was found5.61. The small demand makes it clear that only a voluntary car scheme could satisfy it economically. Users who were interviewed after one year of operation were pleased with the service offered which reflects the hard work and enthusiasm of the local volunteer co-ordinator and committee. (Author/TRRL)